Bison Wealth LLC Sells 11,596 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bison Wealth LLC lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 36.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,330 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,596 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $84.70 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.93 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average is $86.94 and its 200 day moving average is $94.77. The company has a market cap of $213.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.